He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits high. – 1 King 7:16

Today's Scripture Reading (October 16, 2022): 1 Kings 7

One of the problems of constructing any building has always been trying to hold up the weight of the roof or whatever is built above from falling on what is below. Pillars are created thick enough to hold the weight of whatever is above. Load-bearing walls are inserted for the same purpose. But that is only part of the problem. The weight borne by the pillar also needs to be broadened so that the structure above can remain stable. As a result, a capital is often used to mediate between the pillar and the structure above that the pillar is attempting to hold up. The capital spreads the weight over a wider area, broadening the pillar's point and expanding the area of the pillar that comes in contact with the structure so that the weight is spread out over a greater portion of whatever is above.

For Solomon's Temple, these capitals were made of bronze and were 2.3 meters (or 7.5 feet) high. They were attached to what were already impressive pillars which stood over 8 meters in height (or 27 feet) high. The pillars were so remarkable that they were given names; the south one was called Jakin, and the north one was named Boaz. But these impressive pillars would have been ineffective without the capitals on the top of the pillars. The capitals were often highly ornamented; in the case of the capitals constructed for Solomon's Temple, they were made in the shape of lilies, but they performed an important purpose for the building. The ornamental aspects of the capital were not essential to fulfilling the purpose of the capital; it just allowed it to look pretty while doing it.

The church building sometimes seems to fulfill the same purpose. We often make it ornamental and pretty, but behind the ornament is a purpose; the church is to reflect God's love to the world. We are supposed to make a difference in our society by being the salt and light shared with a world badly in need of his peace. The reality is that the church is the people, you and me; we are the function and the purpose. Our buildings are the ornament. And sometimes, it seems that the decoration has become more important than the function. If we were an architectural capital, that flaw would mean the building would collapse. It is the same with the church. If we cannot love the world, then all there is about us is decoration without substance. And as a result, the church will collapse.

Jesus told his disciples, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35). They won't know that we are Christians because of the impressiveness of our churches or even by the rules that we keep. Jesus commanded us to love and said that the world would recognize us because of that love. Everything else is just decoration, the lilies on the top of the pillars. If we refuse to take Jesus' command to love seriously, then the church, regardless of how beautiful it might be, will collapse because we have lost the reason for why we are here in the first place. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 8